Category Archives: How Mainit got its name?

Many, many years ago, when Moro pirates were the terrors of the sea, there were tribes of nomadic people, who live in the west coast of the other side of the Diwata Mountains. These people were believed to have originated from the Malay Peninsula long before the coming of the Spaniards conquistadores. They lived and prospered in their settlement for many years but they were not spared by the sea pirates who sealed from island to island, plundered and raided along the coasts. They looted homes, captured men, women and children and made them their slaves.

Spurred by their fears of the Moro pirates, the people decided to leave their place and flee to the hinterlands. After a half-day journey from the sea coast, they reached the top mountain, and there they rested and made temporary shelter. The following morning, the men set foot to look for food and they hunted going eastward, they saw a big body of water surrounded by mountains. Much to their joy, they found out that the water was fresh and teeming with fish. They decided to settle near the shores of the big body of water or the lake.

News spread and other groups of people from the sea coast joined them. They established a village near the bank of river. As they surveyed and fished in the river for food, they came upon a hot sulphuric spring which flowed to the river. They called it “Mapaso” in their dialect and described the river as
”Mainit” another Visayan dialect word for hot. As this river empties into the lake, likewise the lake was also called “Mainit”. Subsequently, their village too was called “Mainit”. The constant use and referral to the village as “Mainit” became permanent. Their village grew and prospered and became a barangay. The name “Mainit” stuck. That’s how “Mainit” got its name.